IPL 2026: SRH captain Cummins names teen prodigy Sooryavanshi his ‘new favourite player’
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "IPL 2026: SRH captain Cummins names teen prodigy Sooryavanshi his ‘new favourite player’")
IPL 2026 Pat Cummins names teen prodigy Sooryavanshi his ‘new favourite player’ Photograph: (AFP)
Pat Cummins labels RR teen sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi his 'new favourite player' after a stunning 36-ball century. See why the SRH skipper is in awe.
Australia Test captain Pat Cummins has named his ‘new favourite player’, who is neither an Aussie nor even an Indian international yet. He is Rajasthan Royals opener Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. Cummins, who returned to playing competitive cricket for the first time since mid-December last year, was in awe of the swashbuckling opener Sooryavanshi, who slammed his second IPL hundred in just 36 balls the other night. After completing his fifty in 15 balls, for the third time, Vaibhav slammed the remaining 50 in the next 21 balls, breaking multiple records.
The left-handed batter hammered five fours and 12 maximums, shortly after reaching his 1000 T20 runs in 473 balls, the fastest and the youngest to reach this milestone.
The previous record was held by Australia's Mitchell Owen, who completed 1,000 runs in 533 balls.
Sooryavanshi's 100 was the third fastest in IPL history, after Chris Gayle's 30-ball ton in 2013 and his own 35-ball hundred last year. However, the effort was not enough as the Royals lost to Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Hyderabad skipper Cummins, Australia's Test and ODI captain and a veteran of 219 internationals across three formats, heaped praise on the boy wonder.
"I think he's my new favourite player," Cummins said in the post-match presser. "He hits the ball so hard, it's great to watch. It's good fun. You've got to be right on the money as a bowler because if you're not, it's going a long way. He's impressive."
"He's had a great start to his career. I love the way he plays. It takes the game on,” he added.
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Sooryavanshi has been in blazing form in the 2026 IPL, with 357 runs, including two 15-ball fifties at a punishing strike rate of 234.86 in eight matches.
"It's a no-brainer... he is the most destructive Indian T20 opener," former England captain Michael Vaughan wrote on X.
The teenager has bossed world-class bowlers, including Indian pace veteran Jasprit Bumrah (Mumbai Indians), smashing the superstar over the wide long-on fence for a six when he faced him for the first time earlier this month. His dazzling performances have seen calls for him to be fast-tracked into the senior Indian national team.
(With inputs from AFP)
